Museum of Appalachia

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Sign at entrance of Museum of Appalachia

The Museum of Appalachia, located in Norris, Tennessee, 20 miles north of Knoxville, is a living history museum of pioneer, mountain, and early artifacts of the Southern Appalachian region of the United States.

Recently named an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, the Museum is a collection of more than 30 historic log buildings rescued from neglect and decay and gathered onto 63 acres of picturesque pastures and fields. Thousands of relics in authentic settings and in two large exhibit halls, which house one of the nation's finest collections of folk art. One of the museum's buildings, the Arnwine Cabin, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a tiny one-room cabin built in the early 1800s and moved to the museum from its original site near the Clinch River.^[1]

The Museum also seeks to preserve traditional art forms and music by providing performance and demonstration venues for artists and craftsmen. In addition to its Porch Musician Project, which features daily music performance from the porch of the Peters Homestead House, the Museum of Appalachia hosts the annual Tennessee Fall Homecoming, a four-day event featuring four stages of continuous performance of "old-time" music and dance. Hundreds of craftsmen, demonstrators, and cooks set up sales booths on the grounds.

The Museum of Appalachia's stated mission is to: (1) preserve both the physical heritage and daily experience of Appalachian life for future generations, and (2) develop, interpret, and present exhibits and programs that increase public awareness of and appreciation for our Appalachian roots.

In addition to thousands of photographs, the Museum's archives house collected oral histories and recollections, as well as donated mementos of the region.

The museum was established in the 1960s by John Rice Irwin. In May 2003 it was converted from private ownership to a non-profit foundation operating under the direction of a board of directors.

The museum employs a staff of 32 people, has an annual budget in excess of $1,000,000, and attracts about 100,000 visitors annually.